Brezhnev took Afghanistan
and Begin took Beirut
Galtieri took the Union Jack
and Maggie, over lunch one day
took a cruiser, with all hands
apparently to make him give it back
- Roger waters

I’ve got my spots. Those marks on the map of places I want to paddle. About a year ago the Falkland Islands were still on that list. I started feeling out what it would take and before long I realized that it was a bit more daunting than I was ready for. . . yet. So I’m pretty interested in following along with Marcus Demuth who plans to begin his circumnavigation of the Falkland’s and all of its 776 outer islands beginning in January.

Marcus and his kayak have explored some amazing places, from Chile in 2006, Ireland in 2007 to his crazy Iceland experiences earlier this year. These highs and lows are probably just what is needed to rationally approach something that two British Special Forces teams and two US kayak expeditions have failed to accomplish in the past. * Attempting the Falklands is some serious stuff.

For many of us the Falklands became a household name back in the 80’s when Argentina invaded the British held Islands and was subsequently pushed back at great sacrifice for both sides. In addition I was irreversibly scarred when late night comedy show drew correlation between the shape of the Falklands and a bit of Margret Thatcher’s anatomy. . . (ah, hem! moving on. . .)

The Falkland Islands which are made up of 2 main islands and about 776 smaller islands, lie in the legendary rough waters of the South Atlantic Ocean just 300 odd miles from the coast of Argentina and about 700 miles north of South Georgia Island. In total the islands are made up of about 4,700 square miles of land with 800 miles of coastline. Unlike snow-covered South Georgia, the Falklands are  relatively dry  (depending on the season) which will make finding available fresh water quite a challenge. The seas are unforgiving cold and given to wild mood swings. Wind is almost a constant. When Marcus arrives in January the average air temperature will be a cool but comfortable 48f.

Marcus will also have ample “alone time”. The total population of the Falkland Islands is just under 3000 people who mostly live in and around the capitol of Stanley on the East island while most of the smaller outer islands have rarely been touched by human hands.

Another issue with the Falkland Islands is simply logistics. Marcus had to deal with the new economy and the fact that airlines are not so free to haul our 3-piece kayaks around as they once were. Thankfully for him he is sponsored by Sea Kayaking UK and Nigel went well above the call of duty to have a new kayak shipped from Southampton down to the Falklands. Which by the way, included an 16 hour round trip by Phil Clegg.

Marcus was also able to find some local support. Leiv Poncet, a sailor and kayaker living in the Falklands has really dug in to support the trip by providing all sorts of local information and offering to help Marcus get settled in once he arrives there. Another important note about Leiv is that he is the only person so far to have circumnavigated the 2 main islands by sea kayak.

In the end this is going to be an amazing adventure, “win or draw”. Hopefully Marcus will be able to keep us posted occasionally at his website. I certainly wish him a safe and fulfilling voyage. In an email to Marcus Leiv Poncet wrote, “”This is just something which has to be done …”.  Yeah that’s what always gets us started!! Good luck, Marcus!

* from Marcus’s website.
Original image provided by Marcus. Thank you.

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